Crime in Sports - More Prison, More Murder - "Irish" Tommy Eaglin - Part 2

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

This week, we continue our story with Tommy, about to go on trial for a murder, with the death penalty on the table. He is convicted, but avoids execution. Once in prison, Tommy starts right up with getting trouble. He fights anyone he can, and even plans an escape attempt. This attempt goes horribly wrong, with 2 people ending up murdered, and Tommy with shotguns trained at his head. Will he survive prison?    Avoid the death penalty by getting life without parole, become a bigger menace in prison, than you were when you were on the outside, and stand trial for 2 more brutal murders with Tommy Eaglin - Part 1!!   Check us out, every Tuesday! We will continue to bring you the biggest idiots in sports history!!   Hosted by James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman   Donate at... patreon.com/crimeinsports or with paypal.com using our email: [e-mail] Get all the CIS, STM & YSO merch at crimeinsports.threadless.com   Go to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things CIS, STM & YSO!!   Contact us on... instagram.com/smalltownmurder facebook.com/crimeinsports [e-mail]

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to crime in sports. Yay! Yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petro Gallo. I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wiseman. Thank you so much for joining us today on part two of an absolutely one of the craziest

goddamn things we've ever talked about. And it's real. And it's real. up this time. I cannot believe the amount of people that were like, I kept waiting for James to say, just kidding on the childhood, one of my made-up childhoods. I can assure you I would never make up something that horrific. My brain doesn't even work like that to make up that kind of child abuse.

What if his dad held a toddler up by his ankles and just punched his face like a speedback? That has never crossed my mind even as a fictional thing that could possibly happen. So, but yeah, it was part one was wild and it's just going to get wilder because we left off with him up for the death penalty at this point for the dumbest murder of all time. So we'll get into all of that and more in a second though. Before we do, head over to shut up and give me murder.com. Get all your merchandise. Tons of shit. Everything from skateboards to coffee cups, get your stuff.

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here. So this week what we're going to do here, these are hilarious, by the way. We did old-timey articles for crime and sports. Find out about pile pipes and dismembered little girls. It's a wild one for old-timey articles. Then for small-town

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beat that add free and then you also get a shout out at the end of the show jimmy'll mess your name all up for you so don't you even worry about that uh now that said let's get back into this here with uh eaglin here my man eaglin uh he's been having some problems old eaglin uh let's just say that uh he like we just said he's been up for the death penalty which is not exactly great for old Tommy here Tommy right yeah Tommy

yeah I don't know why that for a second the name just escaped my what's his first name because his real first name is Dwight but he goes by Tommy because I think that's his middle name so apparently he's upbeat by this

surprisingly yeah that's weird he said that his mood is aided by antidepressants and he said there's also familiarity with the system to consider, he said. Sure.

I've been in jail before, and they gave me happy pills, so I'm feeling okay right now. I'm all right. Yeah. He said, you know, I've been in foster homes, have been arrested a bunch of times.

This is part for my course right here. They show in 94 he was arrested for driving under the influence and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and pleaded guilty and got 12 months probation for that and paid $150 fine. His father,

we find out was convicted of solicitation of murder, as we know, for trying to have the state's attorney killed who was trying to have him put in jail for abusing his children. And that's what happened here. Two counts of cruelty to children is what his dad was in for.

Not fucking his children. Cruelty. Cruelty. Because he would beat the shit out of them, broke their legs. Is that a plea? I'm not sure. Doesn't send,

convicted. I think he went to trial. I don't, I think, okay, if you're trying to have the state's attorney murdered, I don't think you're cooperative with the system at that. I think you're probably not doing a lot of plea deals. You're going to take it to the jury probably. It was him and, that's what they got him on. Yeah. So Tommy said when asked about jail time, I grew up in this kind of stuff. Okay. I mean, and he's a, he's a boxer, so it's not like he's scared to be in there. Right. It's fine. They said, are you scared? And he said, am I scared? He goes, this is the worst thing that could happen to anybody.

What do you? It sucks. Yeah. Stupid. I'm terrified, really. Wouldn't you be? Yeah. Now, they say grieving, disbelieving members of John Nichols family disagree.

That's the man he killed. Eagles passed is of no concern. They don't want to hear about a troubled man. The father of his widow, so the dead man's father-in-law, said, this guy, Eagle in his bad news. He's bad news. That's one way to put it. His name is Vito

DeRogario. Bad news. He's bad news. I don't want to hear nothing about it. He's fucking bad news, this guy. He's a bum. He's a fucking bump. Friends and family say John Nichols was apparently

being, I guess, John Nichols, the night he died. They said he'd been described by family and coworkers as a do-gooder. He went back to school and had been studying at St. Petersburg, Jr., college to be a lab technician. His burial will be at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.

Isn't that nice? They said John, his stepfather, said John was just a phenomenal individual. People think nickel. See, that's ashes, right? You can't just, are you allowed to just? Okay. There used to be a, was it the nautical society? I can't remember what it was called, but there was a thing in California where you could,

you could pay them like a very little amount. It was like the cheapest way to get rid of a dead body, essentially, where you'd pay these people and they'd come over, they'd get the fucking body, and they'd load it up on a ship and take it out to like international waters and just toss you in the sea. That's a way, that's a cheap way to get rid of a body. And that was like a thing that they did back then. You could do that. Yeah, I don't know if that still exists or not. But that for a long time was a very big business. Yeah, I can't remember what it was called, the nautical, the sunshed society.

I mean, you know how, like, with, if you run a cremation business, you can only cremate so many in a day. You're not allowed to just like, just do it. You know what I mean? Yeah, you can stack them up in there. This is awesome. This is just money. You just, this was people who didn't care. People who didn't care.

And it was the cheapest way to do it. You know what I mean? Maybe like 150 bucks. They'll come throw you over the fucking side. That was that. Rather than, you know, thousands of dollars. So they said, Please think Nichols,

who minutes earlier left his job at the Wendy's restaurant on US 19. That is depressing. To leave your job, to be murdered while stinking of French fries

is really fucking sad. He died smelling on your... Smelling Big Bacon Classic on him. Yeah. temptations and decided it was his business. His dad, Vito, said he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess.

You know, it goes, you know. He said, his stepdad said, right now we don't want to say anything that might reflect on the trial. Nichols had no police record, just a night manager at Wendy's that ran a maintenance, lawn maintenance and pressure washing business during the day. God damn. And he was working overtime that night to help new employees and using his business equipment to clean the outside of the restaurant. So he was double-diffing.

I'm not even supposed to be here. He was double-diffing. He was getting paid an hourly rate, and they were paying him to fucking power wash, too. This was good for him. His father-in-law said he always worked. And many times after working, also, police have been told he'd stop by temptations. Yeah. So they can go, who walked in here smelling like Wendy's chili?

Oh, it's him. Okay, never mind. Has anybody got a craving for a Dave's double? Anybody? Jesus Christ. He keeps asking for a pig-tailed red-headed girl. Do we have any of those in the back? He keeps asking for one.

It's strange. He wants to dance for. It would behoove her to buy a wig. Can we just buy one wig and keep it in the back for this guy? Because otherwise he just sits there, his arms are crossed. He looks real upset the whole time. I didn't pay that girl that looked like that other girl. A lot of money.

Yeah, that's what happens. Now, is this the prosecutor or this guy or the police? One of the investigators said that he would stop by temptations, but, quote, that was sort of a closet deal. No one really knew about that. Closet deal. He didn't tell everybody, hey, stopping at the titty bar, I'll be home in an hour. It was just, he came home with litter. he came home with glitter on his crotch and people were just like, I don't know, I guess Wendy says glitter a lot now.

A closet deal. I love how they call it that. It's sort of a closet deal. That's all. One of the dancers, Virginia Van Gilder, that's quite the, it's quite a name for a stripper. Virginia Van Gilder of Pinellas Park told police that Nichols was a regular. The victim. They said it was short trips.

He'd stay maybe an hour or two. many times he'd arrive late, as he did that night, late at night. Van Gilder described Nichols as a non-drinker and always a gentleman. So he went in just for tits. It wasn't even, I'm going to unwind with a drink and, hey, look, that's pretty cool. There's tits in the background. He went in and said, I'm going to go stare at tits soberly for an hour or two. I mean, I suppose that guy exists that maybe had a problem or whatever, but that's wild to just be a

sober guy in the titty barn. It's weird. It's the only way you can justify to yourself being in there is having a couple of drinks and loosening up and being like, yeah, this is all right. If you're sober after a while, you're like, this is getting creepy. Oh, man, this isn't good. Yeah. That girl has a lot of scars. She's been cutting herself. Like, this is bad. You know what I mean? You feel bad and shit. You're like, I don't like this. I just want to give them some money and leave. Is it weirder to be a guy sitting at Sniffer's Row? with a Coke or the guy with a beer with his back turned to the stage. That's even weird because that guy just, he just likes the environment of the titty bar. And the overpriced $8 beer.

This is a social thing for him. He likes hearing warrants cherry pie three times a night and there's nothing that's going to talk him out of it. Period. The Miller Life never tastes better than when Motley Cruz sings girls, girls, girls. That's what I mean. The entire fucking Girls Girls' Girls album playing on a loop will get you there. It gets good to you after that, you know what I mean? I need Wild Side.

Although they'll never play Wild Side in a titty bar because that shit is five minutes long. Those ladies, those ladies really like a short ones. Yeah, they want a three-minute song. Like, why can't we go back to that? They like the one that are about 212. There's people dancing a shit from the 50s just because it's short. Did she just play Speedo from the Cadillac? What the fuck is going on?

That's a weird song for a strip club now. It's very short. Little deuce scoop. Yeah. What's up with that? If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, that's short and quick. That's also kind of the opposite of why we're here. Yeah, exactly. Well, I think that, no, that's actually the exact thing. I married an ugly woman to be happy, so I'm sitting at this titty bar. taken in the pretty tits,

knowing that marrying them would be bad. That's what the song says anyway, not me. It's the song's recording. One way to keep them following the rules. That'll do it. We don't like you. Never try to make us your wife.

Never. Now, this Van Gilder said also that Nichols cut her lawn and fixed her car. Really? Oh, man. Imagine the army of local guys she has doing these things for her.

Yeah. I mean, this is wild. She said it was a platonial. Platonic brother-sister type thing. Right. I never pay $8 a beer to see my sister's tits. I would never do that, would you? No, right.

After seeing them and paying too much for beers, be like, let's go fix your car now. Yeah, let's go cut your lawn. Let me put a starter in your geo for you. Yeah, no one better try to steal that stereo. I will intervene. His dad, Vito, said, this was a nice guy, a guy who always tried to help people.

That's all he is. This fucking guy. What are you talking about here? So now Tommy, his trainer here, said, quote, when Tommy was arrested, it was like you might as well have had in the paper that Tommy got hit by a car. They said, as far as we're concerned, as far as I'm concerned, he's gone. Jesus. Way to standby guy there. Holy fuck.

God damn. He said the murder charge floored him. he said, I almost closed the gym. I didn't want to be here. The fighters didn't want to be here. It just all felt wrong, I guess, here. He said the fall happened so quickly. He said three weeks before this murder,

Eaglin had dropped the 10-round decision to Mike the Hammer Griffith. And the fight was in Philly. It was nationally televised by the USA network. Tommy lost, but the, apparently, the fans loved him. They loved his style because he's got a crowd-pleasing style. It's aggressive, and that's what you want to watch. You know, you don't want to watch two Oscar Delahoyas being super careful feeling each other out.

That's boring. So he said this was kind of the whole thing. Before the Griffin bout, though, he noticed a change in Tommy. He said he kind of, he had suspicions that he was partying and using alcohol and drugs again before this last fight, which he never had the suspicion of that before. He said, when we came home after the USA fight and sat in my truck talking for an hour, hour and a half. I told him about what career he could have. I gave him the whole speech and he goes right out and gets high. Wow. Yep. And his purse for that Griffith fight was $5,000,

Eaglin made for that. Wow. Which financed this drug binge, essentially. And this is, you know, how it works. He said, the trainer said he got a call from a relative of Tommy's girlfriend and advised Tommy to turn himself in. Instead, Tommy went home and went to bed, so the trainer had to call the police. He said, you call him. I'm going to sleep. Another guy, a featherweight, David Santos

of the 4th Street group, wasn't surprised by Tommy's what happened here. He said, quote, every time we shared a room on the road, something was going on in his dreams. I woke up many times and he was having nightmares, killing the pillows, yelling, I'll kill you, I'll kill you. Whatever

happened to him, very early and whatever happened to him happened very early in his life. Okay. Yeah, he's no shit. So Kenneth Eagland Sr., who is 75 years old, doesn't understand how any of this happened here. I think

this is the grandfather. I think this is his father's father. This is father as a Kenneth and he is not a junior. Right. This one is a yeah, Kenneth Eagland Senior, 75 year old patriarch of the Eagland family, He doesn't understand how any of this happens.

He only knows that this is going on again. You, okay, your son is the guy who tortured this guy to turn him into this. You had to have done something to that boy to turn him into someone who would punch his fucking baby like a speedbag. I'm sorry, but you had to have. There's no way. They say the old man lives on a stretch of rolling southern Indiana farmland called New Washington. His red brick house is on 15 acres that he's owned since 1950. the Elm shrouded property sits peacefully off state road 62 in the northern part of New Washington.

Oh, boy. Eaglin is proud of his home and family. On a late spring day, he interrupted an interview to identify an array of photographs, particularly of the five children raised by him and his wife, Wyoming. She died in 97 a few months before their 50th wedding anniversary. Oh. Wow. On a desk, four photos surrounded by a beach. a steaming portrait of a man in his 20s with fiery red hair.

They said the face could easily be Tommy, but it's Kenneth Jr., Tommy's father, is who it is. So it looks just like him. So he said, Kenneth Brow, Sr.'s brow furrowed when talking about his son and grandson. His mood lightened, though, when talking about his other children, the other nine grandchildren and great-grandchildren that he cannot number. So much good balancing on the bad.

Okay. They said, of course, there's no balance. He said, all this hurts, but there's nothing you can do. about it, you have to accept it. It's out of your hands. You just go on. He says that he hopes his son will get out of prison before he dies. He said, well, Tommy, and for the grandson, he says, for Tommy, he says, well, Tommy's down there and I'm up here. So, I mean, he's in Florida. I'm in, what fuck am I supposed to do? Tommy said, quote, I think I broke my grandfather's heart. Probably. Sounds like it, yeah. Now, the father, Kenneth Jr. at this point, that asked.

asshole is inmate number B23031 and big muddy correctional center in Ina, Illinois. Sounds lovely. Yeah, it does. That's beautiful. He's 10 years and a 34-year sentence. And yeah, he admits abusing his son in a letter to the Tampa Tribune. He said, Tommy was always trying to be a part of my life, but I was not a good father. I believe that I should be on trial, not Tommy. I believe it's my fault he is where he is today. Hey. There you go. Wow. For the first fucking time ever in his entire life. Good call.

Wow. Yeah. Tommy himself here said the way I look at it now, maybe it's in the Lord's hands. Maybe it's best for me to be away from people if I can't control myself. That's what Tommy says. He says, I get nervous. I'm not sure what the jury's going to do. But he does know that there's going to be bad stuff going on and they're going to see crime scene photos.

and he's going to sound like a fucking monster who stole a car and then murdered a man in a titty bar parking lot and hit him behind a dumpster. Jesus. He said, I always think about how I let myself get into this situation. I think about things I'd like to be doing,

things I wish I'd done or things I can't do. I'm all, I also think about how much I've hurt my family and everyone else. Now, his lawyer, January 10th, 2001's got a new approach here. Okay, he's got a new approach. He's saying that, hey, what happened wasn't really murder. I mean, let's be crazy here.

Prosecutors want death penalty and all this type of thing. And the attorney said he basically freaked out thinking he's being attacked. He decided to use the wrong amount of force to stop this person who had put his hands on him. He said he was drinking and doing drugs and, you know, whatever. And in that state, if you put your hands on someone who's abused to being a fighter, than they might try to kill you. That's what happens. That's why you mind your own fucking business.

You don't know when a guy is this guy, you know? You don't know who's a killer and who's not? No. These people that are crazy out there. He said what he did was, you know, slash his throat and stab him a shitload of times and then sever his spine with a stab to the back, is what the prosecution says.

This was brutal. This was numerous stab wounds, slit throat and a, you know, severed spinal cord. This is bad. Not good. And then he had drove, oh Christ, then he got in the tracker. It's just a geotracker. This won't do that much damage.

But he drove over him as well in the tracker. After he cut his throat, stabbed him so hard. Oh, and then, did he drag him? He ran him over. No, then apparently Nichols then tried to crawl away after he'd been stabbed and everything else and run over by a fucking geotracker. his legs were paralyzed, paralyzed dragging behind him. And by the time a Temptations nightclub worker found him, he was dead.

Wow. So where he was found, they think maybe he crawled over there to try to hide, basically. Instead of being drug there, yeah. Yeah, just to, that's a thing he can't get to me with the car from by the dumpster over here maybe or something. So Tommy then ditched the stolen tracker and hitched a ride back to Diamond Dolls, which we talked about there. But inside the tracker on the ashtray and a baby seat were his fingerprints. And beside Nichols' body was the bloody tracker owner's manual and an identity card belonging to the woman who owned the stolen car. Oh, fuck.

Not too hard to find this at all here. And the trackers got his fingerprints on it. Yeah. Not good. So they're talking about the victim here. And they say that the, they think maybe that, the victim helped Tommy for a second and then realized what was going on. I think maybe he went over saying, do you need some help?

And then realized what was going on and said, hey, what are you doing here? And that's when this started. They said, quote, not only did this man stab Mr. Nichols repeatedly with a knife, but he ran him over with the tracker. A trail of blood shows Mr. Nichols attempted to get away. Mr. Nichols had no weapon. He was not a professional boxer. So they say that he intended to kill.

He knew what he was doing and he had done enough time and he had enough time to stop what he was doing. That's what the prosecution says and the preliminary stuff, whereas the defense is like, he's super fucked up. He's in the middle. It's one o'clock in the morning and a titty bar parking lot. Some guy comes up and grabs you. He just cut his throat. What else are you going to do? Obviously.

Somewhere in the middle of there. You know, somewhere in there. Why wouldn't you just punch the shit out of him if you wanted to get him away from him? You're a professional goddamn boxer. You hit him twice real fast and he's going to go, hey, I'm in over my head, never mind. Boy, that was quick. Wow, that was real hard and real fast. Holy shit.

My God. What do you do that for a living? What are you doing? Either way, though, in other unrelated Florida news, these are my favorite things ever. Other things happening in Florida, nine-year-old arrested in knife assault. Nine. An-n-assault. A knife assault.

Who'd they assault? Yeah, less than a year after a nine-year-old boy was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, he's facing new charges in connection with a Tuesday afternoon knife attack on another nine-year-old boy. Wow. Okay, he's nine. He's not, you know what I mean? Like on the wire when they were looking for the kids that are reachable, they were, oh, that's too old. We got to go back to like 13, 12, 13, those are the kids you can still reach.

Fucking nine is really young. How big of a guy did he knife? Well, I don't know about the first one, but the second one that they're talking about now, because this is a year after he was arrested for aggravated assault for stabbing the first time. This time he stabbed a nine-year-old over a $5 debt between the two children. You owe me five bucks, and I will stab you for it. What the fuck? It led the suspect to hold a knife to the other's throat in a Fifth Avenue South Yard and try to steal the victim's bicycle.

He shook him down. Is he a mobster? bucks. Wow. The suspect was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and attempted armed robbery. They're not naming the kid because he's nine. Wow. But yeah, this Glenn Kogashal,

he's the other kid, told police he was going to visit a friend when he got off the bike in the 53-300 block of Fifth Avenue South and the suspect jumped out at him. He was fucking waiting for him. The suspect reportedly held a pairing knife with a two-inch blade to Glenn's throat and demanded the five dollars.

Wow. Holy shit. Although Glenn said he was doing yard work to get the money, the suspect then demanded the bicycle, and Glenn gave it to him. He's like, I'll get it, man. I'll get it, man. I'm cutting lawns.

Hold on, man, I'll get it. What the fuck? Two people in neighboring yards witnessed the incident. Imagine witnessing a nine-year-old dope up another nine-year-old, put a fucking knife to his throat and go, give me $5, motherfucker. Like, imagine watching that scene play out. It'd be like the arrested development play.

The play James Lipton wrote, where they're like, enjoy your chlamydia, Lucille, like with children in prison. This is crazy. So they witnessed that. The suspect then released Glenn and tried to break the knife after one of the neighbors yelled at him. Police arrived after Glenn went home and reported the incident. The suspect initially denied the attack, but after Glenn and the neighbors identified him, he admitted his involvement. The last March, the suspect was arrested and charged in connection with an attack on a 10-year-old boy.

According to reports, the suspect, accompanied by another boy who was not charged, flashed a knife and punched the boy, but the victim's mother ran to the scene and the boys fled. You know you're not a hardened criminal when someone's mother can completely spook the entire crime. The whole thing? Yeah. Oh, no, it's his mom and they run away. Shit. I just picture, like, hardcore, like, bloods and crips going at it, and then one of their moms runs out, and they're like, you get out of here, and they're like, oh, shit! and all the gangsters run. Mom's out.

Run. There's a mom here. Everybody will run. That is amazing. He was taken to the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center. So, in more unrelated Florida news, because this is just fun.

Blunt chest injury killed truck driver. Fuck. The driver, the driver who died when his furniture truck veered off an interstate 275 overpass and fell onto a bus Monday morning, was killed by a blunt. chest injury. However, it may take much longer to investigate, for the investigators to determine

what caused the crash at I-275 and 54th Avenue South. It may take 45 to 60 days for the traffic homicide investigator to complete his report, they said. Jose Barbosa, 37 of Tampa, was the only person killed in the rush hour wreck, which involved several vehicles and 12 people. Wow. He just plunged off the fucking... Yeah, you're going to die of chest. And of the steering wheel. The steering wheel hits you in the fucking midsection. Oh, shit. All right.

January 11th, 2001 here. Poor Tommy. Or not poor Tommy. Poor Tommy to a point, but then not poor Tommy. But things are going on in court here. So they said the professional boxer stood with his head bowed impassively as a jury after deliberating for just an hour found him guilty. of first degree murder. First degree. First degree. The judge imposes the sentence at this point,

and the judge says, quote, I don't know what was going through your mind in February a couple years ago. I do know in 16 years, this is the most senseless and brutal murder trial I've ever had the displeasure of presiding over. He said, even the ones I put on death row haven't been as brutal and senseless as this. You, sir, may fuck off. 25 years, or I'm sorry, life without the possibility of parole. It said 25-year-old to life in prison,

so I was like 25-year-old. So life in prison without the possibility of parole. Life without. He's 25, and he's already got earned life without. Life without. He's done. Wow. That's it. All this, because he wanted to steal a CD-changer

from a geo-tracker. in Emerson, I'm sure of it. If only he knew, it's 2001 in like four years. That would be a completely irrelevant. You know what I mean? You hook your iPod right into your car, and that's that. Four years, done. You would not need this anymore.

Six or seven years, you plug your phone into the ox cord. Done. And never touch us. Then it goes Bluetooth after that. You don't even have to hook it up to anything. You don't even a fucking cord anymore. You just start the car and it hooks right in. and then it drives you nuts because it won't shut off

when you're trying to make a phone call. I'm trying to make a phone call or if you want your headphones on because you're going to get out of the car at a minute and wants to go on. So the prosecutors suspect that Nichols may have asked that now they think that Eagland may have asked Nichols for help

in finding the CD changer, but then there was some, you know, whatever. They think he tried to leave and call the police. Now they thought, they said Eagland might have thought, I'm going to get caught because it's going to embarrass my career. So that's why he did this. And, you know, he overpowered. The guy didn't have to stab him, obviously.

No. So the prosecutor said, why did he have to stab John Nichols in the first place? He could have taken him out with one punch. He could have beat him up easily. Jesus. But instead stabbed him 13 times, several in the chest, one to the neck and another that severed his spine. Awful.

Jesus Christ. Also, Nichols' mother said it's because of people like this that we lock our doors and look over our shoulders. It's because of people like this that we tell our children to distrust strangers. Also, we tell them to stay away from strip club parking lots at 2 in the morning. That's another, more important than any of those things is no where bad shit you can happen likely. Where it's likely to happen and avoid that is really. For sure. So, yeah, he gets life without parole.

the victim's father there, Vito said, I felt justice was done. It won't bring John back, but there's not much else we could do. What am I supposed to do over here? You got answers for me? Because I'm listening.

I'm all fucking ears, guy. What do you got? So that's what he said. The father said, at least they're not like, we're mad that he didn't get the death penalty. They're just like, I mean, that's it. I'm it and it's all.

What are you going to do here? Now, his attorney, though, said they didn't prove premeditated murder. There wasn't any proven connection between the burglary and the death. It was done in the course of a frenzy so it wasn't premeditated. The defense also maintained that, yeah, Tommy had spent several days drinking large amounts of alcohol that clouded his judgment. The jury, though, said under an hour didn't buy that shit.

So he said, we told him we'd appeal. He took it well. Wow. Yeah. And they said, the in-law said that, you know, my concern was for my daughter, saying the victim's wife. He was like, you know, I felt bad. So he was transferred to the Charlotte Correctional Facility or institution where he began serving his life sentence.

Then it gets worse. Oh? He'd think the story's over now. Oh, there you go. There's no reason to continue. He's in prison forever. For life without, right? Yeah.

Well, June 13th, 2003, fucking prison break. Uh-oh. That's crazy. He's out? Well, authorities would provide few details Thursday of an escape attempt inside the Charlotte Correctional Institution that led to the first slaying of a Florida prison guard in 16 years. What? This is not good.

Correctional officer Darla Lathrim, a woman, of course, he kills. 38 died last night or died Wednesday night at the maximum security prison. One of three closed custody prisons were. reserved for the state's most troublesome inmates. Wow. Lathrum's death comes two weeks after four guards were beaten one seriously by inmates at Washington Correctional Facility or institution in North Florida. She is the first female guard killed in Florida history.

Wow. Her boss said she was an excellent officer. Apparently she lived with her parents and was active in her church. It was just a square. You know what I mean? Nice lady. You never had to ask her twice to do anything. she was just a good, decent human being.

She'd worked in the prison since last June and was supervising five inmates on a construction detail inside the facility when she was attacked about 10 p.m. Two of the inmates on the detail were injured and the other three tried to escape. They were like, oh shit, she's down, run. They declined to say how she was killed

or give details on the escape attempt. The investigation was continuing and no one was charged. No other corrections officers. were injured, the construction detail that she was overseeing was renovating a dormitory, and the workers had access to numerous tools, including hammer, screwdrivers, Department of Correction spokesman said, hey, how about fucking hire somebody from the outside to do this fucking work?

So you're not giving fucking prisoners hammers. How about that? So you're not giving people that kill people with instruments, the instruments to kill. Not to mention, I don't remember this guy having any, like, he's not a finish carpenter. This guy's a fucking boxer. This doesn't make any sense. So guards supervising them would normally be armed with pepper spray. Guards who come in direct contact with prisoners don't carry guns for obvious fucking reasons.

Right. When it gets taken away, you're in deep shit. Prisoners are issued tools on sign-in, sign-out basis depending on the job they're doing. There's no set policy on how many guards are required to supervise these work details as well. So there's no policy on that. One inmate convicted murderer Dwight, or it's Tommy. as we call him, Eagland, was captured after he used a makeshift ladder to scale an inner perimeter fence. He said, I'm getting the fuck out of here.

Wow. Two inmates whose names were not released were captured in a dormitory room. The other two were found injured and taken to Lee Memorial Hospital. Their identities were not released. Eaglin, a former professional boxer who's serving life in prison, obviously. So, wow, that is... disturbing. So they say death raises security questions, the Orlando Sentinel says. Right. No shit. Why'd they have access to, you know, dangerous tools? According to state corrections code,

Eaglin and other so-called level two close management inmates can only write with a special security pen. They don't even give these people writing implements for Christ. No. You give them tools. Under many circumstances, he has to be escorted in restraints under the watch of one corrections officer. he cannot have cocoa butter or baby oil. I don't know because it's he'll slip out. I think that's for, I think that's for slippery. Yeah, I think that's like they don't trust him at fucking,

this is the, we don't trust you one fucking instant section of the jail. You get nothing. We watch you. You get no baby oil. You can't even comfortably whack it. We won't even have that. We will not allow it. You're going to dry tug because otherwise you may slip through the bars.

Hope you like. Take your spit, sir, because that's what you're going to get if you want any sort of anything. The prison officials reiterated under state law. He was allowed to be a part of the five-man in-house construction crew. I don't care if it's the law or not. Is it smart? Why don't we start there? It seems dumb.

And he had access to tools such as a screwdriver and a sledgehammer. It was a sledgehammer that someone on Egan's construction crew apparently used to kill. Oh, my God. Corrections. They killed her with a fucking sledgehammer. Oh, my God. They killed a woman with a sledgehammer. How many?

At least a couple, they said. Fuck. That's someone. None of the guys are talking is the other problem. Wow, that's crazy. I don't even, he's considered a suspect. And he's still considered a suspect in the death, of course, but there's no charges that have been filed. Two other inmates who were injured.

in the escape attempt have not been named as well. So they've really only named him, Tommy. Yeah. Everybody else isn't named. So they said that they were making last-minute touch-ups to a nearly completed prison dormitory. They said all able-bodied inmates are assigned a job, whether it be in the kitchen mowing grass, maintenance, laundry,

whatever equipment is necessary is checked out to them. Wow. Yeah, again, while. Yeah, I mean, I guess you've got a name to the equipment, so if anything happens. But these are people that have nothing to lose. Yeah, these are the people, life without. It's over. I mean, he doesn't care.

He's trying to get out. I just, I'm also not one for, this, people can disagree with that, but I don't really love forced labor of any kind. Like, listen. You can drag me there in handcuffs, but you're not going to tell me what to mop once I get there. Yeah, you're not going to tell me how. I'm going to do both. What my quota on license plates is today.

To me, that's like getting a lecture and a ticket from a cop. It's the same thing. One or the other, motherfucker. And get the fuck out of my window. That's it. Give me a ticket and shut the fuck up or whatever. Or say what you want and not give me the ticket. This is the same thing.

You're going to put me away forever. You're not going to tell me what to mop then. You're not going to tell me what to mo. I'll sit on my fucking ass forever and you can fucking feed me if you want to keep me in here so fucking long. I got a ticket on my way to work years ago. And the guy was just, he had so many questions about my car. And I was just like, I don't know. And then he came back with a ticket.

And I was like, all that for this? He could have just taken my license, give me a ticket. And then I would have been to my fucking job on time. Yeah. I know a guy who actually said to a cop, lecture or ticket, pick one. And I said, what? I'm going to say from now on. And he said, lecture or ticket?

Which one are you giving me? You're not giving me both. You're not giving me both, motherfucker. I'm not going to listen to you. But I'll take the ticket if you're going to say. if you're giving me one or you can tell me what you want and that's fine. And the cop ended up just writing him a ticket and shutting the fuck up. Thank you.

That's it. Good. I'm not listening to you for 20 minutes. Yeah. I'm not going to listen for 20 minutes and get a ticket. That does make you memorable though. So if you want to go fight it, they will not forget. Lecture or ticket? You're the lecture or ticket guy. Yeah, they'll remember that. I remember this dick over there on that room. I had a cop forget the entire fucking interaction. And I went to court about it because I was like,

The ticket said on an intersection that didn't exist. So I was like, oh, I'm going to court over this for sure. There's no way they can make this stick. And I went and he looked, I didn't make a fuss or anything. I just took the ticket and went on my way. And then when I got home, I was looking at the ticket. I was like, for sure, this is going to be the best court date ever. I was jacked to say some horrible shit about this cop.

And the judge just, the cop said, I'm not educated enough to testify in this case, Your Honor. And the judge dismissed it. I was like, oh, no, I got things to say. Damn it. Fuck that guy, first of all. He wasted my time twice now. Fuck. But not my money.

No my money. I walked out of there and I walked through the middle of the courtroom where it had pews and everybody had their hands out. And it was like a fucking Super Bowl terminal as I laughed. That's what they do. If you get off on shit. People are so excited for it. Everybody was jacked for me. So they say state lawmakers who oversee corrections policies said they would wait until the conclusion.

of the investigation before deciding whether changes in the inmate work program are necessary. Let's go ahead and say they are. I think some changes need to be made. Yeah, because it's not, well, the problem is it's not like Tommy's been a perfect fucking angel since he's been in here. He's already been disciplined twice for fighting since he's been in prison in less than two years. Fighting. Three months ago, he was written up for a, quote, unarmed assault, which is he didn't stab anybody. He doesn't need to.

He's a fucking professional boxer for Christ's sake. Wow, this is a lot. They say that a rep in Florida down here, chairman of the state house subcommittee on corrections, said the public might hear that a convicted murderer such as Eaglin was allowed near tools and say, hey, that doesn't make sense. But we're going to get the full story. If changes are warranted, we'll make those changes and that will be a priority.

Just say, yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either. What the fuck? They said it's been a bad combination for safety. Like if the prisoners are not murderers and they've done really well and shown that, you know, if they've been in there five years, they've had no infractions, they've been, you could probably trust them with a fucking sledgehammer to do something. But if they just got there and are already fucking up, you're going to let them, going to give them tools now and they have nothing to lose? All right. That's fucking nuts. Now, this poor woman, she only worked there a year.

Jesus. She had been the dead woman here had been an office manager for 14 years in Fort Myers before. deciding she needed some change in her life and got a job as a corrections officer. I need something a little more exciting. She worked as an assistant manager at a convenience store for two years before taking a job as a dispatcher with a home security company in Jacksonville, which was ADT. Her boss said she was very excited about going to corrections officer school. She used ADT as a starting point because you have a lot of interaction with law enforcement.

Wow. She went to the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Academy. They said she was always a good student in the top quarter of her class academically. Physically, she did great. There was no issues at all. Just if you hit her with a sledgehammer, she'll die. That's the only problem with her, like anybody else. So then there's a big article about inmates in slaying had discipline records.

So now it's all coming out. Two of them were murderers, stabbing their victims with knives. One of them's Tommy. Another was a rapist and all were in there for life without parole. Yeah, this was the crew, basically. You're putting a woman who's been on this job for one year around those people? You know, the worst rapists and murderers we have to offer in the state. Keep an eye on them, will you?

Five of them, you should get that, right? That's no problem. It's Tommy, it's Michael Jones and Stephen Smith. Wow, very Michael Jones, Stephen Smith. The three Charlotte Correctional Institution inmates underinvest. for the slaying have a history of disobeying the rules in state prisons. One here, the president of the state correctional officers chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association said, I mean, those guys had nothing to lose. The way they brutally killed her showed that.

Yeah, officers filed a combined 21 discipline reports against the three, just those three. Some were for not following orders. Others were for unarmed assault and also possesses. narcissics. The three inmates and the other two were under her watch and that's how it happened here. They think that this was all just an escape attempt, period. Yeah. That's it. They were just going to destroy a woman and then they, well, they're going to get away and be gone for a... This is so dumb. It's so stupid. Never going to get caught again. Just out. Two of them had, two of the three had disciplinary infractions between them. Two had just three. The two that weren't in this had just three disciplinary infractions between them,

and one of them had a release date of 2017. And the other one had four years to go. So the two that aren't investigated for murder are the ones that had a chance of getting out. So that is crazy. Now, the corrections officials have acknowledged that Lathrim, the guard, was nearing the end of her probation status on the job, and technically should not have been alone that evening yet. She wasn't at the end of her probation.

Thank God they're admitting it. She was working a 4 p.m. to midnight shift, but they said system-wide understaffing is partly to blame for her death. Yeah. They said they were allowed now to kill in prison. They were killers. Their instincts are different from you and me. The one guy, Jones, Michael Jones, incarcerated since 88 on charges of armed sexual assault and burglary,

had 10 disciplinary reports, including unarmed assault, disobeying regulations. One of the 10 offenses, of the 10 offenses, nine occurred at this facility. Smith, Michael Smith, who was in 1990 in March, he stabbed a 75-year-old woman inside her own home. That's how he ended up here. Classy.

Wow, he had six infractions, including drug possession at the union correctional institution and theft also at that prison. Jesus Christ. This is interesting. The assistant state attorney who prosecuted Smith called him, quote, a character who sometimes laughed at inappropriate times. That's a character. That's a shockingly scary man.

You know him. He laughs sometimes. He stabs all ladies in their own homes. He's a character, that one. Tell you what. Just laughs at inappropriate times. Yeah, character. They said Smith intended to rob Blanche,

Costello's home, but ended up beating and stabbing her to death instead. They said, what chance did she stand? None. He's just somebody who contributes nothing to society. Eaglin had five disciplinary reports, three for violence in the first two years he was here. So they only told about there. Okay, he was placed in solitary confinement after three of the incidents. Those are the violent ones here. Wow. This is crazy. Then finally, December 4th, three state prisoners indicted. Oh. Guess who one of them is. Yeah.

It is our guy. The state said they're seriously considering the pursuit of the death penalty against all three of these fucking idiots. Tommy's going to die over this. It might end up dying over this. They said, we're going to proceed vigorously with prosecution. Which, yeah, you're already in there and you still can't get your shit together. Right. So one of the inmates was not charged James Beeston.

He remains under state investigation for collateral matters related to. to the failed escape, which makes sense. He just saw it and was like, all right, I'll just run. Yes, this poor woman died from blunt force trauma. Jesus Christ, from a sledgehammer. The men stashed her body in a closet and put her radio down a toilet as well, and then tried to escape. Oh, God.

Wow, he tried to hide her. Flushed her radio. Flushed her fucking, that's disgusting, dude. They hit this woman's body after they crushed her fucking skull. Jesus Christ. They said that there's no secret that these are dangerous individuals and promised that they'll take appropriate actions in transporting the men to upcoming court appearances. In other words, they'll be real shackled extra tight, probably. Yeah. To prove first degree murder, the state must show evidence of premeditation or the murder occurring during the commission of a felony, which would include escape from prison, by the way. Can't do that. Wow, they said we're extremely pleased that the state attorney is. pursuing very serious charges against these individuals. That's the Department of Corrections spokesman. And Jesus, man, that's fucking hard.

What a couple of fucking dummies. Oh, another thing that Lathrim did besides office manage and ADT and work at a convenience store. She's also a former school bus driver. Of course. You know, because that prepares you. Yeah. You know, nine-year-old's cutting up in the back. Unless it's that one nine-year-old, then it would have prepared it.

The one with the knife. The stabby one. She does all the thankless jobs. Yeah. She's willing to do them. Poor thing. Very nice woman. Now they appear via video.

All three of these idiots appear via video to give their pleas, basically. They don't even bother bringing them in for that. Wow, this is a lot, man. This fucking guy's a mess. Dwight, or Tommy there, they said they're talking about different lawyers and they say, I think there might be a conflict of interest there, Your Honor. Dwight Eagland, Tommy, already has a public defender. So they were trying to get him one assigned when he already had one.

So they said, we'll get you another attorney down the road. The public defender's office cannot represent two co-defendants. So they have co-defendants only, they can only represent one in the same office. Technical glitches delayed the start of the hearing, and here they are because it was 2003. So a video call was crazy technology back then. That was incredible. Yeah. Oh, we got the satellite feed set up.

It was like a, it's crazy. Whereas now it's obviously nothing. Who the fuck is that? Maxeddream. What's happening right? Oh my God. There is, that's him.

Right, right, right. Now people do fucking network news broadcasts from their living room with their fucking books and like kids' toys behind them and shit. And their cat jumping on the fucking table. No shit. Oh my God. Sir, I'm not a cat. That's my favorite.

That video. the Sir I'm Not a Cat video. You remember that? It's one of those court videos where like a Zoom call and the guy's cat was up on the screen. And he said, I just want to make sure you know that I'm not a cat. Sir, I am not a cat. And they're like, here we get it.

We understand you're not a cat. But he had to tell him, just in case you thought a cat hooked up a video feed to answer a criminal charge, it's not. Because I'm me. Is it a real? cat or just like a filter? I can't remember.

Yeah, I think it's a filter that got stuck on his... It's a kitten filter. It was a filter that got stuck and he just said, sir, I'm not a cat. It's the funniest... It's so adorable. It's the funniest fucking... And his voice is like, sir, I just won't let you know I'm not a cat. It's like so not a kitten voice coming out of this guy.

It's so awesome. It's great. I love it so much. It's a filter, James. So when his eyes move, the cat's eyes. It's so funny. I've seen the video, it's hilarious. And the judge is like...

The cat goes, sir, I am not a cat. Sir, I'm not a cat. It's so fucking funny. The judge is, the look on his face is so funny. This is a couple years ago. It's hilarious. The lawyer and the judge on the call and they're both like, we know.

Yeah, we get it. But he's too stupid to figure out how to get rid of it. He's just going, I don't know how to do that. I'm just going to do this with a kitten filter on. Oh, that's fantastic. Oh, man. So now the top officials at the correctional institution are getting their asses handed to them. Yeah.

Because they're saying the institution neglected numerous safety policies on the night that she was killed here. Among the violations committed by the report was allowing a single guard to monitor five prisoners inside a dormitory under construction, failing to make required security checks, and ignoring rules about where and when certain tools. are allowed to be and stored. Also the fact that she wasn't supposed to be alone with them at all, her, not just a guard, but her specifically. The report from the office of the Inspector General offers the best glimpse to date of the prison staff's shortcomings the night in June when Darla Lathrim was killed.

Yeah, Lathrim was the first female killed, as we know. There, officials had decided at a meeting at the prison in March that two officers would be required to meet the security needs of the construction detail. inside the prison. The chief state inspector who handled it handled and wrote the corrections department in internal investigation said that. They said, and no one from Charlotte's administration appeared to monitor the construction project beyond the normal duty hours to ensure that manpower was being utilized properly. There were 41 officers on duty that night, nine more than required to fill essential posts. So they were not short staffed. That's portion. They just

didn't send them to the right places. The warden at the time said during the investigation that he was never approached with security issues regarding the dorm under construction. One lieutenant here, one of the officers in charge on the night of the murder, Lieutenant Rick, oh, Jesus Christ, or Zachowski, told prison investigators that he was never told he should have had more than one officer inside the dormitory. He said that he and Captain Jody Davis, the ex-Chicago Cubs baseball player, I think, and the two supervisors of the night shift on June 11th were both demoted to Sergeant because of the release of the internal report. They lost pension grade right there. Yeah, neither works at Charlotte anymore, a fellow officer said. Davis, the report stated, said he did not see any warning signs that may have triggered greater security. scrutiny of the work inside the dormitory, A, which recently opened as the prison's fifth

housing unit. Inmates, Dwight Eagland, Michael Jones, Stephen Smith were three of the five men. We know that. So there we go. They said none of the five men working that night were restrained. Another violation of policy. Furthermore, shift supervisors in a main control room failed to make mandatory security checks of Lathrum.

They're supposed to check up on her every once in a while if she's off on an island by herself with these fucking people. A sergeant, Mark Meyer, who was in a control room supervisor, said it was common practice not to monitor dorms that were considered closed according to the investigation report.

Well, you could help your coworker out by making sure she's not getting murdered with a sledgehammer. That'd be nice. They said closed dorms to them meant that they did not house inmates. So why bother looking? It wasn't sure.

They said lay them, a lathrum should have been wearing a body alarm an electronic device that alerts officers to a fallen comrade. Now that they have in most prisons. Like I read a book about Sing Sing in 25 years, they've had that. It's a little thing that when they drop it, they pop it out of something. And when they drop it, it sends a signal to everybody's shit.

Really? The officer is down. Yeah, it's an officer emergency thing. That's impressive. Yeah, it's smart. And it monitors that. As she monitored the prisoners who were selected to join the workforce squad because of their trade skills. Prison department policy requires all officers wear the alarm when inside the

secure perimeter. It was shown, in fact, according to the report that the majority of officers on duty that night were not wearing the device. They're just flouting the rules. They also reported that sensitive tools were not secured as policy dictates, a toolbox that included needle-nosed pliers and grinder blades was used at the dorm work detail. Those tools were being stored locked in a room at the prison and they should have been kept off-site rather than at the prison. A prison department spokesman said that despite the administrative

concerns in the report, the Department of Corrections does not intend to change its policies. It's fine. We're not changing shit. No, I guess the policies were fine, and that's what the guy says. The bottom line here is that there were a number of policies that were good and sound but weren't being followed.

No shit. If there was two officers there and they had body alarms and didn't give them access to the tools like that, wouldn't happen, period. Right. If their regulations were followed. Wow. This is, this is,

this is fucked, man. So prison murder trial dates are tentatively set. They're going to be in April of 2005. And apparently, April 19th is Tommy's. And then Stephen Smith's trial set to begin April 13th.

And Michael Jones has a status hearing before they set it. Okay. Death penalty is. sought for all three. Sure. By the way, the state's decision is rooted in the, quote, brutality of the beating. And they said there was enough evidence to support the ultimate penalty.

I mean, if you're going to have it, you got a guy who already killed a guy and then goes and kills someone else while they're in prison. Right. It's like, well, you can't, if you can't be, this is one of the few times where it's okay, I think it's better to proceed maybe this way is the fact that they're still going to attack people in prison. They can't, they're incorrigible. There's no way to stop them. Now you could put them in solitary.

You could do shit like that, but you can't put them in solitary forever. Right. So what do you do? So it's interesting. I mean, yeah, go ahead. And you know me, I'm not a huge death penalty guy at all here. It costs about $72 a day to incarcerate a death row inmate, which is a lot more than a regular inmate, apparently. $72 a day back then.

Really? So 12 years would cost more than $315,000 to incarcerate someone in death row for 12 years. Think about if you would, at any point in Tommy's life spent $315,000 on him. What a difference that might have made when he was seven. You know what I'm saying? But you're willing to do that. That's what pisses me off. We're so reactionary.

There's no politician that goes, we're going to help kids and get them in programs and people just go, ah, it's bleeding heart bullshit. And fuck them. Let the parents pay for that shit. And I'm not paying for that. But the politician that says, I'm going to put a guy on death row because he killed an old lady. They go, yeah, spend my money. And it's like, you'd have an alive old lady and more money. If you just spend half of that money when he was eight, you fucking morons.

It drives me nuts. But that you can't put a commercial on. that says, I'm going to take troubled kids and make sure they don't kill you in 20 years. That's not how the human brain works at all. They go, ah, that's 20 years from now. I'll be fine. Fuck them. Anyway, February 6, 2004, now they figure out records indicate prison murder planned in advance.

This was not a, hey, there's a sledgehammer. Wow. Yeah. Yep. They said, trapped and pacing between two fences, state prisoner Tommy Eaglin, cursed at the armed officers whose shotguns were trained on him. Oh, my.

Get on the ground, one of them yelled. He's shirtless yelling, shoot me. Shoot me, motherfucker. Go ahead. He's cursing and yelling. And, yeah. According to an inmate who was at his cell window watching the trauma of the botched escape,

that's drama. That's better than TV. An officer fired a warning shot above Tommy's head, but the blast didn't phase him, who, according to records, refused to surrender without a fight. They shot out his over his head and he was like, good, lower motherfucker.

Yeah, bad shot. You suck. Pepper spray brought down the boxer then and he and, yeah, so they've got to pepper spray the shit out of him to get him under control so he couldn't swing on him. Rumor of the proposed escape from CCI here surfaced last year in February prisoners told Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators. They're like, oh, no, we heard them planning this for months. They were false starts now and then, they said also. But on that night, Eagland, Jones, and Smith had decided, Tonight's the night, and we're doing it.

Eaglin reportedly made the final call after a fight with Fustin, who was one of the other guys. He said, no, we're doing it. The plan was that Eagland would get outside of the prison first, with Jones and Smith behind him, is what this inmate said. Once loose, Eagland would ambush an armed officer in a truck because he's the slimmest, and he's the fastest and he's the strongest. So he'll be able to go up and take him out. Right.

Like a fucking, like a Chuck Norris and Delta Force. He's just going to sneak up and snap his neck real quick, like a Segal movie. Wow. So then they said they over, a guy said he overheard Eagland, Smith, and Jones discussing the plan to escape two days before June 11th when they actually tried it. Wow. One of them told him, Beeston, that guy told investigators, he didn't want to, to participate in the escape, knowing that it would jeopardize his tentative release, which is in two years or three years.

Like, I want out. Fuck that. Yeah. You know, he said he had a tentative release, and he was definitely going to be released by 2017 and maybe as early as 2007. So he's like, I don't want to escape for shit. Investigators interviewed Beeston following the morning as he lay in the hospital bed because he was one of the prisoners there.

They said, let me ask you something, John. If we found out who did this, would you want? to prosecute them. And the inmate said, not really. I don't care. He fucking don't really care. So that's that.

February 8th, 2004, inmate named in killing of officer. Now here it goes. It's all getting down. It is Tommy Eaglin, former pro boxer who stabbed a stranger to death here.

He is the one they're saying actually did the murdering of Darla Lathrum that night. They say he slung a swung a sledgehammer at Lathrim's head before he and two others tried to escape. Imagine that. That is horrific. The other two are charged with the slaying as well, but, you know, he's the one who actually did it.

He's the one that puts a little stank on it, I think, here. Apparently, Eaglin was the one who hit the officer in the face with the hammer, and Smith was yelling at him to hit her again. Oh, geez. He's the one, I believe, who killed an old lady in her house and the one who laughs in inappropriate things. Yep, this is according to witnesses. According to court records here, Jones confided in Clark on June 26th saying that his life was ruined and the people at Charlotte were good to him and he hated what had happened. That's one of the guys who was in the hospital. Eagland, Jones, and Smith.

Oh, he's the middle guy, Jones. I'm sorry. They pleaded not guilty, obviously. Death penalty for all three is what they're trying to do. here. Apparently here, the escape was planned. They said it was just like a lot of chatter. So it was thought of as just kind of jail talk, bullshit. Yeah, we're going to escape. We're going to escape. But the one inmate said that they started to get, in early June, they started to get bold about it. One of them, Smith said, just watch the news. You're going to see it,

according to one inmate. This other inmate that's the same inmate that spoke with investigators after the escape attempt called Tommy Eaglin a psychopath who has demonstrated uncontrollable anger. Yeah, I'd say so. Yeah, they said Eaglin, quote, don't hold nothing back no matter who you are or how big you are. If he wants to fight you, he's going to fight you. He's going to do it. He's a scary man. He's not afraid anybody.

His dad fucking speedbagged his face while breaking his femur for Christ's sake. Man, that is. fucking crazy. The crime scene investigation, apparently, I guess they, Jones had plumbing skills, so Jones duped her into opening a locked closet because he said he needed something plumbing-wise. They revealed blood, the crime scene investigation, showed blood in five areas of the prison that night. They said Lathrim's blood was found inside the closet only, splattered on low walls where her head was positioned. officers found her because blood pooled about three feet from underneath the base of the door. They only found her because a big blood puddle came out of the door.

Came out. Came under the door. They're like, hmm, a flood of blood is coming from under that door. There's blood in there. Bet you there's a people. They weren't even looking otherwise. That's how they found her. Wow.

She was, apparently they found her. She was curled up inside, sledgehammer laying next to her. They picked up a bloody t-shirt in the second floor cell where Beeston lay injured, but there was no indication whose shirt it was. Tommy was shirtless outside the dormitory when he was arrested, so maybe him. Maybe it's his. Yeah. There was no blood reported outside the cells where Beeston and Fustin were found. Blood was also found in a shower on the second floor, spattered on walls. It appeared diluted, however, like someone was washing blood off of them. The evidence log here includes a screwdriver and a hammer found between the two perimeter fences where they caught Eagland, fingerprints on an escape ladder, covert tape recordings of Eagland, Jones, and Smith in cells at Florida State Prison where they've been held since their arrest. They've been talking about it.

Wow. Eaglin had one fence to go, and he would have been done. He would have got it. He got over the first razor. wire topped fence. Almost one more to go. He said, quote, I'm going to make you shoot me and make you kill me is what he was yelling at the cops.

He was shouting obscenities and everything else when they found him. One of the cops who's worked there for seven years said he saw Eagland struggling with the razor wire at the base of the outer fence. He said he appeared crazed. He raised his fists ready for a match and officers wrestled him down after a quick fight. Egan got punched in the head. and several bursts of pepper spray. Oh, fuck.

Wow. Jones and Smith had been close friends for about two years inside the prison, by the way. According to their plumbing instructor, who was teaching them plumbing there. Smith fellow inmates told investigators who was called Rodey, because he was from Rhode Island, apparently,

was more dominant of the two. Interesting. So they said the men didn't say much after their arrest here. They said, The most I remember saying, I remember them saying, was that they didn't do it or they were forced to do it or something of that nature. Yeah, they made me. Meyer, who accompanied Fustin to the hospital, said he heard Smith say that he and Jones were threatened by Eagland and that they would get bashed or slammed if they didn't participate.

Help me escape or I'm going to fuck you up, essentially. The officer did not see blood on either of them. Interesting. State agents interviewed Beeston, who goes by Beast, that's pretty obvious, at Lee Memorial Hospital on June 12th, and he told investigators that Tommy had snapped the previous night. He recalled being hit from behind and shoved into a second floor cell. A nurse noted blunt force trauma to the right side of his head and a compressed skull fracture. Tommy, fuck this guy up. Beeston said he was also approached that night by Fustin, who suspected the other three were plotting something.

Beaston told the cops, I said, I ain't, I, I said, ain't nothing going to happen while we're working. I said, it's just going to get us in trouble. Tommy, on the other hand, fought with Fustin in the hours leading up to the escape. And that's so they think Tommy forced these guys to do this, essentially. Sure. Not that they're like, you know, wilting flowers or anything here. No, no, no. This was not their idea.

They're open to a suggestion. Wow. Eagland's ladder tripped an alarm at about 10 a.m. Something hitting the fence, I think. Wow. Jesus Christ. At least two officers had saw the victim that night, including Connie Powell and Kenneth George. This is, Kenneth George said, I said, you're over here again tonight?

And she said, yes, but not much longer because we're about done. And I told her, have a good evening when I left. But otherwise, she was alone the entire night. Jesus Christ. Obviously, like we said, a second officer should have been there. That's silly. So murder trial set for early 2005. Wow, let's get it on here.

They said they've got to get all the evidence and everything for full speed. They want the death penalty still. So, yeah, they said that about him, bailiffs flank the doors and outside the courtrooms and sheriff's deputies sat in the audience, acknowledged they beefed up security and they said, hey, we've got to be careful. Which makes sense. This guy's got nothing to fucking lose.

Nothing. Not a goddamn thing. I guess there's delays in trial dates in these cases, though, here. A circuit court judge pushed back the trial dates for these prisoners here because of Hurricane Charlie.

Oh. So Hurricane fucks everything up. If it goes any longer, Katrina's going to be a problem. You better hurry up. There's always a, you can't delay shit for a hurricane in Florida, I think. You just make everything court stuff underground because, well, then you'd be in the water. But still, you need something because it's going to, everything's going to always be delayed.

There's always another hurricane. Just hurry up. Just hurry it up. We're in trouble. Now, ex-guards names sought by attorney. The lawyer for Tommy Eaglin here asked a judge for the names of the guards who have left the compound here. They want, apparently they want to see if they can get them on their side here. August 6, 2005, are supposed to have a trial, but it is delayed again.

Uh-oh. Rescheduled for January. So December 2005, judge denies motion to delay the trial even further. Jesus Christ. The attorneys for Tommy here in have filed a motion to continue saying they needed more time to prepare for trial because they have not received reports. from Florida Department of Law Enforcement about several items being analyzed for DNA and they said we cannot proceed without the report

which seems fair they said if we don't get DNA evidence back by then we can address it the judge said basically like I'm scheduling the trial for January 9th if you don't have it in your hand by start of the trial then we'll talk about it but until then we should move ahead so there we go January 9th 2006

trial is all set we're ready to fucking go here. It is Dwight Thomas Eaglin and two others here. It's accused of this. It's horrible shit and they do jury selection and everything. New DNA report delays the trial, though,

on January 10th. Darla Lathrom's parents have waited more than two years to see their daughter's killer punished. But her father said he is content to keep waiting if it means more evidence is presented that's vital to the case. They said, I believe,

And he also said, I believe in the death penalty. Really? He would not say whether he hopes they get it. But I would assume if you... If you like the death penalty and someone killed your daughter, I would assume you'd probably want that applied there. I would get. I'd lean into it, yeah.

Yeah. Now, but they said they need to analyze a new DNA report for the first time a DNA report links Tommy to both murder victims at this point here because the defense received new DNA information a week ago. So, okay, yeah, they're talking about that. So, yeah, now they're linked. So the DNA evidence is absolutely vital to the state's case, and they need to process it all here. One here, the defense attorney says he needs input from defense experts to be able to punch holes in the state's case.

He needs time. He said, I don't know how lab notes from a bail of hay. And neither does any attorney in this room, I would guess. I need, yeah, I need a DNA. expert to come in here. Janet Best, one of Darla's sisters, the victim, said she is ready for the first trial to start and plans to attend every minute of the proceedings. Really? Jesus Christ. The father, David, Darla's father said, I don't want to be here for the part where they tell us the details. It will be like reliving it. He said, I'll take him shoes when I go to the trial. Absolutely. So there is that. Now, when you're done with the trial, might I recommend something for you? Yeah, please. It's been a long day of trialing.

I'm off the court. You need to go see a special evening of gospel music that's advertised right below this, Jimmy. Oh, man. Just groups of old men. Special evening? Special evening of gospel music. This is at the in Venice, Florida, at Church of the Nazarene. No tickets required.

A $7 donation per person will be requested at the door. And a free will offering will be received during the concert. So it's free, but we're going to charge you and then ask you for more money. This has such people as the Florida boys who are six old men in suits. Those are not boys anymore. No, the Bean family who looks like two women, two guys, I don't know. Tim and Mary Alice Lovelace will be there. Everyone knows them.

February, where is this? February 20th, 2006 now. Now we might have a trial. Oh. Jesus Christ, man. They're saying he might go on trial today. Maybe. We're not positive.

We're not positive here. It was scheduled for January, but continued to look at the DNA shit. February 21st, 2006. Tommy says he confessed to killing the prison guard and an inmate because he was afraid. Yeah. Afraid of who. Well, let's find out here. So he is apparently also now accused of a murder of an inmate as well.

Yeah. As another thing that he's got going on here. So he's got two murders now they're trying before. Yeah. It's not good. This is bad. That's not great. So he tries to recant his confession. He said that he asked the defense to not let the jury hear a statement that an investigator said he made.

he said, quote, I'll make this easy on you. I tried to kill those three people. The Florida Department of Law, that's pretty easy. Yeah, there you go. Eagland told circuit judge here that he never admitted his guilt, but offered a confession as a bargaining chip for his life because he feared prison guards. He said, these people are trying to kill me. I will confess to you anything you want me to if you can take me to county jail. The judge agreed to consider a defense motion to suppress it, but.

You never know. Tommy said, I was told that I was going to die. I was in fear of my life there. So he said that the cops who tried to capture him when he was in between fences said he was aggravated, man. He told us, come on, we would have to kill him. But the defense sought to prove that these statements were made under duress after a fight with six guards and 10 hours in a small cell. So, you know, that's what happens here.

Jesus Christ. They said that one of the sisters of the victim, the prison guard, said she believes Tommy will be convicted with or without the confession. So I think there's so much evidence, it really won't make a difference. And it's true. They have all he's told all the prisoners, people are watching. It's crazy. Wow. So Tommy said, well, I'm trying to get, this is another fight he got in, apparently.

He's been serving the life sentence for obviously the stabbing. He told that he told his Smith, according to transcripts, that he wanted the death penalty. And that's what he was going for. According to Smith, Tommy said, quote, well, I'm trying to get the chair, dog. And Smith said, at least you get a TV. And death row. And Tommy said, yeah, that's what I'm saying, laughing. death row sounds great apparently

after being read his rights during interrogation he said to the cop too I do want to get the death penalty but that was before we was on tape oh I do want the chair okay that's what he said so I was wondering if he's going to be convicted here now they said

Darlein or Darla's father said that he doesn't know whether he wants Tommy to be sentenced to death he acknowledges there's a difference between murder and killing. He said murder is taking a life without cause. The commandments say, thou shall not murder. Is that what they say? That shall not kill, but close.

He just said those are different, murder and killing. Yeah. He said the killing is sometimes necessary. The state has that right. Okay, so he's saying. He's changing a commandment to make the death penalty, okay. He just changed the fucking wording of a commandment to make his

his fucking view fit in with his religion. Do you realize how hypocritical and crazy that is? Very impressive. The pretzel you have to twist yourself into to say, well, it says thou shall not murder, even though it doesn't. And the state's killing is necessary sometimes,

and that's, wow, okay. That is fucking wild. It does not say murder. No. No. There's a picture of Tommy yawning. during his trial, by the way. So.

So. In this trial, evidently. Jesus. They go in, blood seeping beneath the door of a mop closet, led Sergeant Mark Pate to the body of Darla K. Lathram. The door was locked. So he talked through it. He said, I was hoping I would hear a voice and that she knew and that she knew and hold

on, basically, saying, hey, I'll get in there. So Pate and other witnesses disclose details of Tom plan to escape from the facility, its failure, and the brutal slaying of that resulted, I guess Charles Fulston was beaten to death as well, the Fustin guy, remember he went to the hospital.

The judge William Blackwell ruled that he will not allow the jury to hear testimony about a confession a state investigator said he made after the murders. So, although defense attorney Neil McLaughlin argued that Eagland made the statement under duress, Blackwell said the tape recordings

he viewed of Eagland's 10 hours in an observation cell after capture did not show a situation severe enough to discount his voluntary statement. So he will allow the confession in. According to testimony by everybody here, inmate Kenneth Leikens said he overheard Eagland say he would kill anyone who tried to stop him.

He quote, he was going to kill Charlie Fustin before he left because he didn't like the way Charlie disrespected him. He's just going to beat a guy to death. and then leave. They were going to, apparently, they would sit up at night for the four months planning their escape.

Shit. They were going to build an L-shaped ladder 16 feet high and 23 feet across to use it to go over the two fences. They were just going to lay it over both fences. Up and over. Wow. Just climb over both of them. That's a lot.

The man planned to hook the ladder to a light pole just beyond the prison fences. Mm-hmm. Eaglin, who would wait for one of the guards who circled the prison to drive by, then would sneak up, hit the driver with a hammer, and steal his vehicle. Eaglin, who did welding in the prison and his friends finished building the ladder a month before the escape attempt, but Fustin destroyed it. That's why he got beat up.

Really? So, yep. Eaglin said, if he ever got a chance, he would straighten Charlie. If he was mad, or he was mad, he tore up his medal. He tore up his freedom. Wow. But the men made another ladder just in time, and it was fine. When questioned by defense attorneys, this Likens guy said he originally lied to authorities about his knowledge of Eagland's plans because he feared for his life. Baker said he didn't tell the guards because the guards thought he was crazy. So we know what happened. They said he was out of control. He's saying you're going to have to shoot him and all that. Blood testimony then comes up here. The blood spatter on Tommy's prison pants proves he was standing right beside a beating victim during the attack. In testimony that sounded like it was from a CSI television show,

Leroy Parker told how he and his Florida Department of Law Enforcement team followed the evidence. He said a pattern of droplets of blood would not have occurred on Tommy's clothes if he had only walked through blood or come in contact with a bloody object. The small droplets had resulted from the impact of hitting someone with force. It takes a lot of energy to break the blood into small parts, they said. They said that Tommy had larger stains on the upper area of his pants and droplets on the knees, on the front from the knees down. Because the droplet stains were so low on the clothing, the person being beaten was on the ground, they said, obviously. He had to be right there. Yeah, kicking and beating.

Similar impact spatter was located on low on the walls in the outside of the mop closet, where Lathrim's body. was found in a puddle of blood. The small blood stains on the wall outside the closet were no more than two feet high. A smeared stain on the closet door jam suggests lathrim was beaten outside, then dragged into the closet. They said a bloody

object had to be moved across the door to create a stain like that. But they said the beating must have continued because more impact spatter was on the back wall of the closet. They also found blood stains in the closet that were cast off of a weapon lifted rapidly

to strike again, beating someone like that. Bloodstains were found in the cell where Fustin was found unconscious, but droplets on the stairs and hallway outside the cell mean Fustin was probably injured elsewhere and taken to the cell. They beat him and dragged him in there. A prison nurse, who was first medical aid to reach Fustin after the beatings, said he was face down with part of his skull smashed. She said he was dying.

There's not much I can do in this situation, but say he's got to get a. out of there now. Fustin was in a coma with small fractures when he arrived at the emergency room of Lee Memorial Hospital. They said that he would have had several blows to the head. He was put on life support and died a few days later. That's why we didn't know about he was dead right away. They just said two prisoners are in the hospital. So they said let's settle our score and escape. Wow. That's crazy. So they said we're just finishing off what needs to happen What needed to happen the first time talking about Nichols.

Nichols, the guy he killed in the strip club, his family's coming to these trials, by the way. Really? Oh, yeah, they're still coming. His mom, Sue, said, we're just finishing off what needed to happen the first time. They said that her family dropped the request for the death penalty when England was tried. They said to him being penned up would be worse than being dead, so that's what they wanted for him. Sure. But now he's hurt too many people to remain off death row, the mother says.

She said, that's my only regret. He had more freedom than I thought he would. Well, not really. Just the prison didn't follow instructions. If everything was followed to the letter, it was fine. That's the problem. They just got lazy. Not the woman who got killed, but the people who set up where everyone's going to be.

So the defense attorney told the judge that the defense would not present witnesses in this case. Really? So Tommy's not going to, no, they're just going to do cross-exam. That's it. The defense attorney said the people we can call are already charged and they won't comment from fear of self-incrimination. So the medical examiner testifies that the first blow likely killed the prison guard. First blow? I mean, you want to say that to lessen it.

Yeah. That's the thing. And the sister, the victim sister here said she was scared because she didn't even know. They said that she never knew an attack was coming and was killed by the first of three fatal blows to the head. She never even saw it coming. She was just fine one minute. That's it. Her family said learning the circumstances behind this, they said it was worthwhile for the family.

They needed to know what happened. So a DNA expert said that blood from both victims was found on his pants and shoes, Tommy was, combined Lathrim and Fustin. received at least seven fatal strikes. Shit. Medical examiner drew his conclusions about Lathrim's death because of the great force necessary to cause her multiple skull fractures. They said also she had no defensive injuries on her hands or forearm, so she didn't fight the attack or even try to block it, and more than likely had no idea it was about to happen.

The square ends of a sledgehammer found near Latham's caved in face matched her wounds as well as Fustins. So both people got the sledgehammer. Only Lathrim's blood was found on the hammer, they said, but they said they match a DNA on his clothes to both victims. So Jesus Christ, what the fuck is this idiot doing? Wow. So the, here we go, February 25th, 2006, it's jury day. Yeah. Yep. He sits there. They said he walked. into the room, by the way, one of Darla Lathrim's sisters, Janet here, says that she hates the way he walks into the room because he enters like he's walking into the boxing ring. Like he's cocky. She said he acts like we're all fans of his or something, like he's a movie star.

This is the same walkout. Like we're going to fight. We don't like you, dude. Man, well, two and a half hours takes the jury to come back and find him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Wow. That's three now, all together. So that's not good. They said he furrowed his brow slightly as the verdict was read, but was all smiles

after getting fingerprinted. On his way out of the courtroom, he turned toward the audience that had gathered, paused several seconds posing for press photographers. Like he just got done out of the ring. Like, he just knocked the guy out. Wow. They said the defense attorney said that, you know, we didn't let him down. And they said, the facts are the facts.

You can spin them, but you can't change the facts. He's got DNA all over him. What are we supposed to do? We can't be magical. I mean, we tried. We did our best. Yeah, that's it. So the ladder, by the way, they were developing, the one that they were mad about 16 feet high and 25 feet across they were building.

Yeah. Wow. They said that he would have had to, they said for him to be able to carry it out to the perimeter fence, they said he would have had to have super-pacor fence. They said he would have had to have super power speed. He would have had to have the speed of a speeding bullet. That's what the defense tried to say. That wasn't the plan.

This is crazy. But the jury believed that he did have a plan. And the state's attorney here said, kill, build, escape. That's his plan. Kill, build escape, which is kind of like BTK. It's KBE. Close. In his closing argument, they said that they'd probably beaten the two inmates

while Leithrom was outside delivering paperwork because he was waiting when she returned. It was a five-pound sledgehammer, they said. Wow. They had the jury feel it, how heavy it was. They said, while she was slamming, while she was on the ground slamming into her head, causing skull fractures, dragged her into the mop closet, smears on the door, dragged. He deliberately slammed her at least two times more in her head and face and showed pictures. of her at that point as well

displayed regular pictures and pictures after their fucking face and skull had been bashed in. They said, how did we get from here to there? There's one common denominator and he's right over there. That motherfucker. And the jury said, absolutely.

So, we agree. Now, here we go. Sentencing at this point here. This is amazing. Tommy says, this is before anything happens before any penalty. He says that he forgives everybody.

Don't worry, I forgive you. Yep. He told the jury, I love you and I forgive every one of you. You don't know what you're doing. That's what he said. Yeah. You're fine. Wow.

He said true forgiveness is the scent of a violet leaves on the heel that has crushed it. Okay. That's what he said. Go to your room. So the jury deliberates for 19. minutes. Uh-huh. 19 minutes.

Yeah. That isn't even a sitcom. That's terrible. That is crazy. And they come back and say, You, sir, may fuck off death penalty. Okay. Now we're going to get it.

Yep. Wow. I guess for both first-degree murder counts, the jury voted eight to four in favor of execution. They said they'll hold another proceeding to hear testimony, not mentioned to the jury.

Eagland's, yeah. So he got the death penalty is essentially what happened here. The defense attorney said, we're a society that needs to do things correctly, including how we handle people who have gone astray. Talk about an understatement. A stray. A stray is a really light way to put that, I would say, astray. They said that the prosecution said, we gave him a grand opportunity.

to begin with. Didn't get the death penalty. Put him in prison. Let him work. Let him do stuff. Let him keep his body and his mind alive and working and all this.

And this is how he fucking repays us. This is it. Wow. That is fucking crazy, man. I don't know what this asshole. Why was he even thinking this? This is fucking crazy. So Nichols' mother,

the first guy he killed in the parking lot, Sue Dietz, who's been attending this whole trial, said she was finally okay. after learning of the recommendation of death. They said Johnny had a hand in it being on, it being on the 27th. That date's significant somehow to the first victim. I guess when Eagland took the stand,

he said he's the only one who knows what happened the night Nichols died, claiming self-defense. He said, if you tell me I'm guilty, I'm just supposed to believe it. You want me to give up my whole life? Because they talked about that. Throughout the trial, he said, I smiled because no matter what I say it's wrong, whether it's the truth or not.

And that's that. So he said that the prison determined he was guilty long before his conviction last week. They kept him locked up in a cell for 34 days wearing nothing but his boxers. He said, I don't expect you people to feel sorry for me. Nobody has to feel sorry for me. Charles Fustin's sister, Rosie, said that Tommy took the stand in a last ditch effort to gain sympathy. She said, all it did was give me a migraine to hear that. All his bullshit.

Although three friends were present to support Eagland throughout the trial, no one was called to testify to his character. Nobody brought up mitigating. No one said, you know, he's a nice guy to me, helped my kid out, he did nothing. Darla's sister, Carol, said that his continuous smile really pissed her off. And that was enough for her to want this guy to go away. She said, his demeanor was a slap in the face. to the victim's families.

She said that she wanted Tommy to apologize or show remorse, and he didn't. She said he had so much anger and hate. I think he just thinks in his mind the reason he did this was they were, you know, mean to him. He's a psycho. Like, people are mean to him. He kills them. One of Darla's childhood friends, Donna Williams, said she understood that the scripture states, there is a time to kill.

Is there? They will find anything in there to justify their horseshit. Anything. If you look through that motherfucker enough, you will find something that you think justifies your bullshit, whatever it is. I love that. There's only a time to kill.

Yes, that's the... That's what Jesus is talking about all the time. He's always talking about, you know, turn the other cheek unless it's time to kill, motherfucker. And then load up. Like, I never heard that part before. We don't eat shrimp and there is a time to kill. Yeah, she said, she said, it's hard, kind of hard because I don't believe in the death penalty, but there is a time and a place for everything.

She said, all Darla, that's fine. All Darla wanted to do was help people, help others that people had given up on. Yeah, they said, people that don't need to be in the world if they don't like our laws, as what the other sister said. That's that. March 1st, 2006, death penalty again here for him. So now I think he's got two death penalties, if I'm not. Okay. No, no, no, it's not.

This is the same trial. Yeah, the true forgiveness is the scent of a violet leaves on the heel of the, that has crushed it as a Mark Twain quote, by the way. He's quoting, he's quoting Twain. Twain to the jury. Wow. March 3rd, 2006. Letter to the editor. Okay, crack down on Eaglin, all crime, is what it says.

Editor, as I sat reading the article on inmate Dwight T. Eaglin, the photo taken of him yawning left much to be desired. I was appalled that this man thought less of what he did and even less after he did it. He should have been made to stand with his hands at his side while the whole court session took place. You can't force people to feel a certain way that you want them to feel. No matter how much you want them to, you can't. You can't force people. Treat this with the same respect that I do.

Yeah. There's a reason why in concentration camps, the Jews were sweeping up, because you can keep us in these conditions, but you can't make us not try to make ourselves better. You can't do it. And that's the thing. You can't force a man to think the way you want him to think. no matter how much you're passionate about it.

They said, make him accountable for his actions. Instead, we let him come in all dressed up in a suit. Right. You know, like a trial. Sit down with water at his reach. Oh, that's bullshit. We're hydrating this man? And yawn.

We better crack down on the crime in this country or years ahead will become one big joke for all of us. This is a very ignorant, short-sighted person named Mary Carmian of Port Charlotte. She's not happy that a man was a little tired. I get the emotion behind that, but to sit there and be like, we have to make them stand and not only do they have to go to prison forever or have to go to the electric chair, but I want them to stand there just how I want it and feel just how I want it. You need to play.

I'm casting a play. You're the part. Yeah. Have nothing and me have everything and hair. Why can't I have hair and money and he have nothing? That's what she just said. I need him to stand in the courtroom and give respect to everything that I respect and have all the energy in the world to respect everything I respect for the rest of his life.

Forever. But it's like also him acting like that helps him get the death penalty. So the jury's getting to see his character. And yes, we dress him up in a suit and give him water because we're civilized fucking people. Right. Six, killer speaks of vengeance. Here we go. Oh, my God.

Here we go. The victims, this is crazy, man. The victims here talking about, her sister gets up there and said, Darlip put her dream of becoming a law enforcement officer on hold to help her sister raise four children, the prosecutor said. This is all from the sentencing, but it's funny to go, not funny, but these are the, you know, victim impacts and everything like that. She took care of the kids

So her sister could travel to Texas for cancer treatments Oh my God Yeah she said I could have never done it without Darla She wrote to the jury She said her violent and brutal death has left wounds that will never heal She was the wind beneath my wings So Twain and now Bet Midler All right you bet

A little beaches reference Little beaches They said that she was Friday's court appearance was the last opportunity for state and defense to have, to influence the judge who'll decide what happens here. The sister, Charlie Fustin's sister, said Charlie was a very kind person. For example, he cared for our mother when she was ill. She said his smile could light up the room.

One of Darla's sisters took the stand and said she still thinks about her younger sister all the time. She says, trying to convey my love for Darla is almost impossible. Everywhere I go are reminded of her. It's not fair. I have to spend the rest of my life without her. Tommy says he realizes that Darla and Fustin were loved, but never actually apologized. He just addressed the court from the defense table and quoted Mark Twain.

Then he implied that he would have, you know, revenge from beyond the grave from those who judged him. Nice. He said, quote, everyone seems like they believe that Lathrim and Fustin, are, quote, sitting up in another world somewhere, like they're looking down and making sure justice is done. If they're up there and worried about revenge, killing me, then what's going to happen to you when I get there? That's all I have to say.

Oh, I'm going to get up there and I'm really going to fuck all of you up. I'm going to fuck everybody here is going to get the death penalty. That's right. I'm going to get everybody here. I'm jerking off in the water supply. Watch your fucking ass. Shit's going to be nasty. Man, that's crazy.

Members of both families of the victims said they wanted to share their anger about the murders with Tommy and the court. However, the judge ruled the victim impact statements must stay focused on the loss of the deceased. Yeah. Can't go off on it here. Her oldest nephew, the victim's oldest nephew, Trey, did not get to read the letter he prepared. He said, Your Honor, or yeah, this was an unprovoked brutal murder where, the one who killed her fought like a chicken, the letter stated.

Talk about a coward using a weapon to fight a girl. He's the lowest form of scum imaginable. They're like, that's not really an impact statement. That doesn't say, this hurts me because you're just saying you don't like this guy, which is not what we're going for you. Dance at this guy. We assume.

We assume. Yeah. He said he wishes that Tommy had been killed the night of the escape, the letter said. So this three-ring circus where these scum of the earth have rights could have been avoided. He said, I mean, come on, a confessed murderer of three has rights

and is still breathing. You said it, dip shit, not me. Yeah. You know what I mean? I hate to say anything about these people's families because we do it, but good God, when they fucking twist themselves in a pretzel to figure out a way

to make themselves not fucking sympathetic. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I start out with all sympathy, and then you get, he has rights? Yeah. This guy has right.

Yeah, stupid. He has rights, you fucking idiot. Yeah, that's how it works. Wouldn't you want him if you fucked up? He said, what's wrong with society today that we don't see this as a problem? I don't know. Tons of people who are fucking let go on completely horseshit evidence. That's why they have rights because we have to have a thing.

Wow. The defense, however, said that Eagland should not die an argument based on actions taken by both the victim's families. Both victims' families had filed lawsuits against. against the Department of Corrections for the wrongful death of their loved ones. So they're like, you're going to blame it all on Tommy when really half this blame deserves to be on the correctional system. I don't know of half, but it was a few percentage. They let it happen for sure. They said the crimes would never have happened if CCI did its job correctly.

And the defense argument is that the prosecution said the defense's argument is totally insane. What the DOC did or didn't do should not have influence on Tommy's. decisions. It doesn't give him the right to do what he did. He's a psychopath. He acts like he's not scared of the death penalty, but you can tell he really is. I think they should put him in the express line. Okay. Oh, to the fast pass. Fast pass it. Yeah. He doesn't have to wait in line. No, no, no, we'll get him right on the fast pass. Now there's a picture of him in this article where he's being cuffed and he's being walked out right after he's given the death penalty, ear to ear smile on his face. He's happy about it. He's not giving you the satisfaction. I don't know why these

people don't figure that out to just ignore him and don't let that get to you. He's trying to get a out of you and you're like, how dare he be allowed to try to get a rise out of me? It's like, never mind that and just ignore him. How about that? Look at the judge and the jury in the witness box and don't worry about him. He's clearly doing this also to make you upset because he knows he has for hand here because he has nothing to lose. He's a piece of shit. That's a piece of shit. That's It's all. It's it. So the judge said that he never expressed anything like genuine remorse before he sentenced him there.

And Fustin's sister said he comes in laughing and goes out laughing. It's like he has no feelings. The judge said he based his decision on aggravating factors such as Tommy's violent history, escape attempt, and method of killing in a cold-blooded and calculated manner. Eagland planned the slayings, talked about them in front of other people, They said the stealth of the attack supports a finding of heightened premeditation and planning to accomplish this murder. The judge said he could not consider the possibility or the possibly negligent operation of the prison as a mitigating factor. He said, I couldn't think that's just not in the law.

Whether or not the institution should share any of the blame does not reduce Tommy's moral culpability, the judge said, which is also true. He compared the prison's role to that of a parent who failed to stop. his child from playing in the street. A little bit different. This is a prison and a job and there's all sorts of kids go play. I think that's a little oversimplified. Yeah. He said if an intoxicated driver runs over and kills the child,

is moral culpability somehow lessened through the negligence of the parent? No, that makes sense. I could see that. Yeah. The parent let him out. I mean, the kids shouldn't have been running in the street to begin with,

but you also shouldn't have been fucking drunk driving and not paying attention. Oh, that guy shouldn't have been drunk driving at all, yeah. That's the thing. So they said the only mitigating circumstance the judge gave any weight to was Tommy's severely abusive childhood and severely dysfunctional family.

And that, wow, yeah, that's a lot. They did the whole pre-sentence investigation and found just the horrors of his life. I mean, holy shit. His dad's still in prison and, wow. After the hearing, This is amazing, by the way. This is a nice woman here.

Carol Miller, one of Lathrim's sisters, said her tears after the hearing, one of the hearings, were not for her dead sister. She said, I was crying because I thought about what a bad childhood he had. What a kind woman.

Poor son of a bitch has endured so much. She said she doesn't know how she would have turned out if she didn't have a loving mother. She said, I hope he finds God and repents. Well, that doesn't make a difference at this point. But that's the thing. Everyone put yourself in Tommy's position and have that childhood. Not a shitty childhood, kind of a crappy one.

Your dad didn't come to your little league games. I'm talking about got speedbag punched by your dad until your femur snapped. Repeatedly over and over and over again. As a baby, beating another baby. Yeah. How would you come out? Wow, that's a lot. Although David Lathrim, Darla's father,

said no one is beyond hope of redemption. He believes Eagland received the punishment he deserves. But the niece is a nephew of Darla said he got off too easy. What more could they have done to him? Go over to find an aunt and burn her house down? Off too easy. Where are your siblings live? We're going to go kick their asses.

Shane Miller, 18, said the killing will just put the murderer out of his misery. He's what is unfair is that he will get to live years on death row. They also said those are years he stole from Darla. The average inmate stays on death row about 12 years, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website, before they're either executed or it's, you know, brought to life without parole, which happens most of the time, it seems like. Defense attorney said it was difficult to hear the judge sentenced the client he has worked with for years. He said, when you hear the words, it's kind of scary. It's a goddamn death penalty. Yeah.

They said that his co-defendants might have had a better chance of receiving life sentences there. Trials for Smith and Jones are scheduled in the next three months. So they're going on their own here. State attorney, Steve Russell, said every case has to stand on its own. He hopes the prosecution of all three inmates brings a sense of justice, but he said nobody wins in capital cases. No. And the problem here, too, with these guys, you want to try them all at once, but then you bring up, the problem is in appeals later on, you're just giving an open thing of appeals because one guy's crimes could rub off on another guy. And you can say you only got the death penalty because that guy's crimes were so bad that they, you know, you were all one group.

And so that makes a lot of sense there. But so Tommy is a, at this point, a convicted and sentenced triple murder. who has got the death penalty. Have we had a triple murdering death penalty? Not yet. Guy come out yet? I don't know that we have in crime and sportsists. We had Anthony Smith.

He killed like four people. We had Aaron Hernandez kill a bunch of people. Well, he was only convicted of one, though. And then he wasn't even convicted. That's true. That's true. So anyway, he's in there. Yeah.

And we will leave it there. And have one more part with Tommy. We got enough room for more? If it ever happens. And we also have a couple of updates that we're going to get to next week as well on some of our old friends. Some of our old buddies, Lenny Dykstra back in the news, people like that. So we're going to talk all about that. Otherwise, though, hope you enjoyed this so far.

Like I said, we'll clean this up next week with the end of Tommy Eaglin. This is a mess, man. Get out a dust pan. We're going to scoop him off. We're going to scoop up the ashes at this point. So he's shattered. So do that and keep coming back and hanging out with us. You should definitely head over to shut up and give me murder.com

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Love him. Fuck yeah, I remember him. Hell yeah, I remember that guy. Yeah, I love it. I love our philip. Aute. He complimented my prism shirt. Oh, is that a prison shirt?

Prism. It was an old cable network in Philadelphia. in the 70s and 80s. Other producers this week. Peyton Meadows, Janice Hill, Kelsey Porter, Casey would know the last name. Sarah Powers, KJ. Bren, Sarah Dibbert,

Rebecca Ross, T.J. Whitley, Dakota Lothar, McKenzie Star, Alexa, hell yeah. Calcos, Cucos. I don't know. Tim Bush. Devin would know last name.

Beth Vanderhoke. Catherine Collins. C. would know last name. C.E. not just the letter. Chad Smith, Clay Brice, Woon me is a

first name. That's not a last name. Woon me. Wow. That's an African name, right? My friend, Oshy Boone me was... Pretty cool.

I imagine Wunmi is something around. JJ Cero. Breezy would know last name. Len would know last name. Raven would know last name. Familia Papani. Should I change my... Should I change my name?

What was the name again? Woon me. wound me. Should I change my name? Woon me Petro Gallo? You think that would be good? Or would I be really confusing at that point? I think it's a gal's name, but I don't know. I don't know the culture. It may be. Never heard of it. Who cares what it is? I think I could throw down with that.

Yeah. It could be like Shannon. Who knows? Why? Yeah, you never know. Ashley. There's lots of Leslie. There's plenty of Lynn. Let's go, Tracy. All sorts of. Sorry. Amy Hutchinson.

Laura Larson. Emery Sifford. Seiford. Dick Pig, James. Dick Pig. Oh, Dick Pig. What's a dick pig? I don't know.

Really loves dicks. Is that a gal or a fella that just takes a ton of dick? Or is it a guy that just fucks anything? Because a sloppy fat dick, maybe? Either way. A sloppy, fat, stinky dick. I'm not sure. Jake McLeod, Amanda Lusier.

It's probably a loser. You're right? Robert Smith. That one. It's just that one, Robert Smith. I dare you to. Find him. Cale Powers, Sean Clots.

Okay. Joshua Fix with a C.K. Kayla Arnold. Jamie Seppel. Ceple. James Clark. Anna Westmoreland. Shana would know last name.

Kim would know last name. Michael Lewis. Lisa Kelly. Pint pot. What is it? Pint pot shot. Pint pot shot. I don't know how to...

Pile pipe. Which one I was supposed to emphasize there. Nick Van Dine, Thorstein, Thorstein Anderson, Lori Marshall, Aaron Jones, Samantha Eslinger, Sarah Wells, Anna Radachi, Eric McCoy, Elena Munger, Cody Reed, Amanda Thompson. Ryan would know the last name. Danielle Wise, Lucas McMurrin, Quill River, Mary Connelly, Jennifer Morin, Mick O, Susie would know last name. Tonya would know last name. Zach Nyer, Neher. Neher. You ought to be real careful with that one. Tanya Barnett, Lori Davis, Timothy Derby, Anna Stahl, Kishla, Kishla, and Alvaro.

Lisa Hocchel, Cheryl Carter, Christina Levy, Nichelle Smith, Justin Nethercut, Janine Upchurch, Raymond Crossland, Dianne, Poo-Land, Diana Pupart. Church, Crossland, and Pupart. Downstate, what's happening? Miss Beverly, Michaela Palmer, the mayor, no last name, just that one. Asana W., Christine Cook, Kendall would know the last name. Avery Sell, Le Carpenter, Le Carpetron, Duke Marriott. Is that a King and Peel reference?

It feels like it. I don't know. Craig McAvana. Got me. McAvana. Tammy DeFord, Jeanette would know last name. Sarah Rumler. Emily would know the last name. Mr. Blister. That's gross. Crystal Baller.

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last name, Caitlin MacKentzy, Jess would know last name, Chris Winkleman, Shannon would know last name, D would no last name, Luke French, Rachel Cantor, Brittany Wehold Johna La Frambioza Frambois Jill Messenger Robert Keller and every person that patrons is a show. You're the best.

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